


How To Spend A Birthday

by AliceTenenbaum



Category: Team Fortress 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-09
Updated: 2015-05-09
Packaged: 2018-03-29 16:55:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3903826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AliceTenenbaum/pseuds/AliceTenenbaum
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Its someone's birthday and boy will they be excited when they open their present.</p>
            </blockquote>





	How To Spend A Birthday

“Fritz,” Franz called wearily.  
Fritz came into the infirmary from their bedroom to see Franz frozen in the middle of the room, a look of fear on his face.  
“Franz? Is everyzhing alvright?”  
He turned to look at the wall; Fritz followed his gaze to see a blue arrow with a note tied to it. Fritz walked cautiously to it and ripped the note off. He read it, then smiled. He handed it to Franz so he could read it as well.  
“Its for you, Dear,” he said.  
“For me?” Franz questioned and began reading.  
Fritz and Franz,  
Sorry about the arrow, but it was the only way I could get this message through to you without getting caught. I can pay for any damage caused. Anyways, Harper's birthday is Saturday and I know how much you feel for him and it would mean a lot to him if you come. We didn't tell him that we were inviting you, so keep it hush hush until then. We hope you can come. Presents are not necessary, but we're sure he'd love to get something.  
-Steve (BLU Sniper)  
The letter brought a smile to Franz's face. How could they not go? Harper was just as important to them as they were to him. And as far as a present, he was going to wait until Christmas, but a birthday was just as good, if not better.  
“Are we going?” Fritz asked.  
“Vhat a stupid fucking qvestion, of course ve're going!” Franz cried happily. “How could ve miss his birzhday?! Und I know he vould be absolutely heartbroken if ve didn't come.”  
“Are ve going to give it to him?”  
“JA. I know ve vere planning to save it until Christmas, but vhat zhe hell. He's getting it on his birzhday. It seems much more fitting zhat vay.”  
Saturday was only 2 days away and the medics could barely contain their excitement. They decided to be sneaky and wrapped their original present with a large frying pan that Harper could use to make pancakes or smacking REDs in the face. Either was acceptable as long as it wasn't Fritz. Every time they saw Harper on the battlefield they got giddy. Neither could wait until he opened his present. They could only imagine his face when he saw it and hopefully it would mean as much to him as it did to them.  
Meanwhile, the battlefield situation was a bit different now that Fritz and Franz were together. Because Fritz meant a lot to both Franz and Harper, BLU team decided that if he meant so much to them, they would leave him alone the best they could. Eventually, the RED team begrudgingly agreed to leave Franz alone as well, the threat of Fritz killing them all for real looming over them. The medics were pretty much invincible, aside from accidental deaths like falling from too far up.  
Finally, Saturday came and they excitedly rushed to the BLU base. The BLU Engineer, Eugene, met them at the door to let them in. He was very friendly to both men as he led them to the room the party was held. Franz worried for a minute that it may be a trap, but when Eugene opened the door and they saw everyone on BLU sitting around Harper who was on the floor, his mind was put as ease. Harper was reading birthday card when he heard the door open; he looked up from his cards to see Eugene lead both Fritz and Franz in; his face lit up like the sun coming out from behind storm clouds. He hopped up and ran to them, hugging them tightly.  
“Fritz! Franz! You...this is such a surprise! I had no idea you were comin'!” he cried. “How did you know?! I don't remember ever tellin' you when my birthday was.”  
“You can zhank your Sniper for zhe information,” Fritz said and Steve smiled from the couch.  
Harper pulled them to the couch so they could sit together. This surprise had made his birthday a thousand times better. He sat back on the floor and began to open his presents. He decided to save Fritz and Franz' present for last.  
He got a new baseball bat, 3 expensive-looking hats, 2 entire 24 can cases of BONK!, a hand knitted scarf and gloves, and a book with all of the players of his favorite baseball team. Now it was time for the last present. It was round and a metal handle stuck out from the side. Obviously, it was a frying pan. He would make sure to cook up some pancakes with it soon. He tore open the paper and inside of the pan was a sort of certificate in a frame. He picked it out and read it; his eyes widened and tears began to bubble up. He looked at Franz, then at Fritz, then back at the certificate.  
“I-is this real?” he asked quietly.  
“Ve vould not joke about such zhings,” Franz assured him with a rare smile.  
“Oh my god!” he cried and jumped up to hug them again, tears of joy streaking down his cheeks.  
The BLUs watched curiously as Harper cried to Fritz and Franz.  
“What'd ya get, Harper?” Eugene asked.  
Harper released them to show his team the certificate.  
“Adoption papers! They adopted me, guys! I ain't an orphan anymore!” Harper announced and went right back to crying.  
Franz hugged Harper tightly; the young man's reaction was exactly as he imagined. Fritz and him did some research on Harper's parents and discovered that they were dead. Harper probably already knew that. They went to court to gain custody over Harper, successfully keeping it a secret from everyone. Harper had technically been their son for 3 months, but just that day it had been revealed. The BLUs were overjoyed for Harper and crowded around the new happy family.  
Both Fritz and Franz's arms were around Harper's body, pulled all together. Harper was still sobbing in their arms and he sloppily kissed each of their cheeks. They both returned the kiss, one on each cheek.  
“Y-you guys, you didn't have to!” Harper bawled.  
“But ve did, my dear. Ve vere going to save zhe surprise for Christmas, but ve really couldn't vait. Und adoption papers on you birzhday seemed much more appropriate,” Fritz told him.  
Harper was rendered speechless by his crying. He was just so happy that he had parents again. Better parents. He was 24 years old now and didn't really need parents anymore, but Fritz and Franz loved him so much that they went through all the work and time to get adoption papers for him. They were legally his parents now. He could call them “Dad”. He cried to them for a while; the entire room was silent while he cried, all of them ecstatic for Harper, now that he had a set of good parents after so many years of bad ones.  
Of course there was cake and a few alcoholic beverages, which neither Fritz nor Franz had any. The party lasted until about 10:30pm. Everyone was tired ans worn out. Steven offered to walk them back to the RED base, but Harper insisted he do it.  
“Dad?” he said and both men turned to look at him. “Can..can I come spend the night with you at your place? I've never really had a family to sleep with before,” he said.  
“Of course! Hell, you can sleep vizh us!” Franz said excitedly.   
“That's what I was going for,” Harper said quietly.  
“Zhat's fine, But I varn you, your vater snores like a train,” Fritz said and Franz elbowed him in the ribs.  
“I do not care in the slightest. My dad used to snore so loud after drinkin' himself to sleep every night,” Harper said, then immediately got quiet.  
He never usually opened up about his birth parents to anyone, but Fritz and Franz, they wouldn't mind if he ranted about them; when he got started on his birth parents, sometimes he couldn't stop. He felt his chest tighten, then he shook his head to clear his brain of those painful thoughts. He was supposed to be happy on his birthday, not upset. Franz put a gentle hand o Harper's back and he smiled up at his father.  
“Are you alvright?” Franz asked.  
“Yeah, I'm ok.”  
They walked out of the BLU base and made their way into the RED base. Fritz was a little worried about bringing another BLU into the base, but there was no sign of any other REDs to oppose of his guest. They made it to the infirmary and unlocked it, then they met resistance.  
“What the hell?!”  
They all spun around and were faced with the RED Soldier. Fritz rolled his eyes; some way or another, someone was getting hurt. And it wasn't going to be Harper or Franz.  
“Vhat do you vant?” Fritz asked impatiently.  
“Don't play stupid with me. Another BLU?! Next think I know, you'll bring the entire BLU team in here!”  
Harper bravely stepped in front of Fritz protectively.  
“Don't talk to my dad like that,” he said, bringing his fists up in defense.  
“Your dad? Ha! Don't make me laugh. Fritz couldn't get laid if he tried,” Soldier snorted.  
This made both Franz and Harper's blood boil. Fritz didn't seem to mind. The RED team always made fun of him so it just rolled off his back. But Harper was having none of it. He threw his fist into Soldier's face. Soldier stumbled back, then pulled out his shotgun. Fritz and Franz screamed for Harper to move out of the way, but he knew that if he moved, Franz would get shot as well, so he stood tall and confident as Soldier pulled the trigger, blasting a large portion of Harper's torso off. Franz screeched as blood, his own son's blood, splattered all over him and the floor. Tears streaked from Harper's eyes, but he refused to cry. Through unbearable pain, he walked straight up to Soldier, swatted the shotgun right out of his hands, and grabbed on to his uniform coat. He coughed up some blood on Soldier's face, a look of growing fear on the RED's face.  
“Do not. Fuck. With. My dad,” Harper growled.  
Soldier pushed Harper off of him and ran, leaving his shotgun behind; Harper fell to the ground, but smiled up at Fritz and Franz. Franz began crying and Fritz rushed to Harper and helped him up, more blood dripping onto the floor. Despite being in horrible pain, he was proud and regretted nothing. Fritz picked him up and cradled him in his arms and Franz threw open the infirmary doors, then once they were all in, locked them up again. Fritz laid Harper gingerly in his operating chair and hooked up Franz' medi-gun. Franz slid to the floor and began sobbing. Fritz felt tears sting at his eyes as well.  
“Guys, I'm fine, don't cry over me,” Harper said, then coughed up some more blood.  
“No, you are not ok, you are coughing up blood,” Fritz said, his voice wavering.  
He flipped on the medi-gun and Harper closed his eyes, feeling the tingling sensation of the healing vapors closing his wound. Franz stood up and went to the bathroom to wash his face and change into his sleepware. As the healing vapors ebbed away, Harper felt a large hand being paced on his cheek. He opened his eyes to see Fritz looking worriedly down at him.  
“Are you feeling alvright? Do you hurt anymore?” he asked.  
“Yeah, I'm fine,” Harper smiled, Fritz giving a teary-eyed smile back.  
“Vhy didn't you move?!”  
“He was gonna shoot Dad! I couldn't let that happen. He's an old fart. He couldn't take the pain.”  
Fritz gave a soft laugh and gently pulled Harper to him.  
“Ja, he couldn't have taken zhe pain. But he vould have taken it for you.”  
“But I took it so he didn't have to. I'm fine, so there's no reason to worry anymore.”  
They heard Franz exit the bathroom; he wore nothing but his boxers and a white undershirt. Harper had never seen Franz under his uniform before and how he could see just how think he was. He could snap him over his knee if he wanted to. He cautiously walked towards them, aware of how much blood remained on Harper's shirt. Harper could tell how uneasy he father was, so he yanked his shirt off and tossed it aside; that set Franz at ease. He went to Harper and took his face in his hands, checking for any other injuries, though he knew the medi-gun would have healed them all by then.  
“Schatzi, are you alvright?” he asked softly, like a mother speaking to a small child.  
“Yeah, Dad, I'm fine,” he assured him.  
“Oh mein gott, you scared me so much! Don't you ever do zhat again! If you had to go to respawn on your birzhday-”  
“Dad, its ok. Really, I'm just fine.”  
Franz pulled Harper into a tight hug and Harper squeezed him back.  
“I did it to protect you. If I had moved, you probably woulda died and I know how much respawn makes you sick.”  
“Danke, but I would have much razher it have been me zhan you.”  
“Vell, it already happened und he has been healed, so ve shouldn't vorry about it anymore,” Fritz said.  
“Yeah, Dad, get over it. I'm fine. Let's all just go to bed.”  
His father's nodded and led the shirtless young man to their bedroom. They let Harper slip in before Franz got in next to him. Fritz went to the bathroom to brush his teeth, leaving the BLUs alone together.  
“Ya know, they miss ya back at the base,” Harper said quietly.  
“I'm sure zhey do, und I appreciate zheir care, but I belong here vizh your vater.”  
“Yeah...and to think I used to be afraid of him. I don't know what I was thinkin'. You guys are the the best parents I coulda asked for. Nothin' like those bags of shit that gave birth to me.”  
“Oh, hush. You don't need to be zhinking about zhem. Zhey are gone. Dead. Zhey can't hurt you anymore. Vhatever zhey did to you is all in zhe past.”  
“I know...”  
Fritz came back into the bedroom in the same attire as Franz and laid on the other side of Harper. Immediately, the young man was covered in warmth. He smiled; tonight he would sleep well.  
“Goodnight, mein Leiben,” Fritz said.  
“Night. Man, my old parents woulda never have let me sleep with them.”  
“Harper, don't-”  
Fritz shook his head; Harper could talk about his old parent if he wanted to. He'd been holding it in for a while and was probably ready to let it all out.  
“They thought it was embarrassin', to have a child sleepin' with them. If I was a girl though, maybe they woulda lat me. They were so damn set on havin' a girl, they were furious when I came out a boy. Then, my mom was unable to have have anymore kids, so I would just have to do. They gave me a stupid girl's name and tried to get me to act like a girl, but I didn't want to be a girl.”  
“Baby, I'm so sorry,” Franz said.  
“A-and when I had a bad dream, they wouldn't comfort me when I came to them. They sent me back to my room and purposely scared me when I tried to go back to sleep. And they beat me so much that first time I ran away a-and it wasn't because I ran away, it w-was because they were w-worried that I would tell s-someone that th-they beat me.”  
Harper's lip trembled and his eyes watered. It was great to get that out, but the memories were so painful to think about.. Franz pulled him to his chest and stroked his hair and kissed his forehead. Fritz hugged them both to his body and kissed the back of Harper's head.  
“Shh, shh, don't cry, no crying on your birzhday. You are supposed to be happy,” Fritz said. “Zhey're dead, zhey can't hurt you, you're safe, zhere is nozhing here zhat vill hurt you. Ve von't let anyvone hurt you like zhat ever again. Ve love you so much, Harper,” Fritz comforted.  
Haroer gave a small giggle and cuddled to Fritz's tummy.  
“Yeah, I'm glad they're gone. I guess the only think I can thank them for is introducin' me to the color pink. Its my favorite color.”  
They were all silent for a few minutes, Harper trying his hardest to calm himself before he began crying again. Fritz and Franz kept their arms firmly and protectively around him.  
“Thanks guys-er, Dads. This really means a lot to me, the adoption and lettin' me come here to sleep with ya. I love you guys.”  
“I love you too,” the men said in unison.  
Finally, they were able to sleep, Fritz and Franz on the outside, Harper wedged tightly in between them both. Soon, the only sounds were of Franz's train-like snoring echoing throughout the room.  
\----  
Fritz and Franz woke up alone in bed. At first they were worried, but then they smelled the smell of delicious, fluffy pancakes. Fritz smiled and silently prayed that they were better than the ones Franz made for their anniversary breakfast. They got up, stretched, pecked each other on the lips, then emerged from their bedroom. There was Harper, fully dress and standing over the oven, a pile of golden-brown pancakes stacked on a plate. He turned to face his fathers and waved.  
“Mornin' sleepyheads!” he greeted enthusiastically.  
“Guten Morgen. Zhe fuck are you doing up so early?” Franz asked, rubbing his eyes with the palm of his hand.  
“Makin' breakfast. I sneaked back to the BLU base so I could use my new pan you got me.”\ “Danke, Harper. I'm sure zhey vill be delicous,” Fritz thanked.  
“As delicious as mine?” Franz asked?  
“Oh, I don't know. Yours vere very good. Zhey vill be hard to beat,” Fritz lied.  
“All those on the plate are ready, so go ahead and help yourself.”  
Franz sat down and Fritz got two plates and piled four on one and one on the other. He sat the plate with one pancake in front of Franz and sat himself down with the four. Franz drenched honey all over the pancake while Fritz only placed a small square of butter on the top of his first pancake. He cut into it; no powder came out. That was a good sign. He put the piece in his mouth and chewed; a-mazing! Much better than Franz's pancakes.  
“So, Fritz, be honest, und I von't be angry vizh your decision; whose pancakes are better, mine or his?” Franz asked.  
“Mmm...I zhink I'm going to have to go vizh Harper's. Zhey seem more sveet zhan yours.”  
“Ja. I figured as much.” Franz turned to Harper, who had just sat at the table. “Harper, my compliments. Zhese are delicious.”  
To there surprise, Franz stood up and got himself another pancake. Fritz watched with his mouth agape, as Franz sat down and piled honey on top of it. He looked up to see Fritz staring at him in bewilderment.  
“Vas?” he asked.  
“Y-you got up for seconds,” Fritz whispered.  
“Oh, ja. How could I not? Zhey are fucking delicious.”  
Fritz smiled excitedly and looked at Harper.  
“You need to come over und make zhese more often!Your vater is actually eating!”  
Franz blushed. Fritz always made such a big deal when Franz liked something he ate, often making it for days in an attempt to get him to eat more. It drove Franz crazy, eating the same thing and nothing but for a week. He did end up gaining at least a little bit of weight, but he worked too hard on the battlefield to retain most of it.  
“Thanks, Dad. I'll come over any time and make these for ya. Just give me a call and I'll come right over,” Harper said.  
They all finished their breakfast and cleaned themselves up. Once they were ready, they began to walk Harper back to BLU base. They were again greeted by Eugene, who let them in.  
“How was your first night with your dads?” Eugene asked.  
“I got shot, but everythin' else was great,” Harper answered.  
“Who shot you?!”  
“Their Soldier. Don't worry about it.”  
Franz hugged Harper and kissed his forehead. Fritz did the same.  
“I love you, Harper,” Franz said.  
“I love you too, Dads.”  
“Um, Franz?” Eugene said nervously.  
“Hm?”  
“We all really miss you over here. Are...are you ever going to come back? Or at least visit us? Or...we haven't seen you in a long time asides from on the battlefield.  
“We'll visit you all, most definitely. Especially since our son lives over here. You can count on seeing us soon.”  
Eugene smiled and took Harper inside, waving to Fritz and Franz before closing the door. Th couple smiled and took their hands in each other's and walked back to the RED base.


End file.
